Welcome to the Historical Society of Orange Park
Let's make our community a better place!
Clarke House Tours
The Clarke House, built in 1912 and located in Clarke House Park, 1039 Kingsley Avenue, is open for tours the second Sunday of each month from 2 PM to 4 PM. Sunday afternoons are the perfect time for a leisurely tour of the house, both upstairs and downstairs.
Quarterly Member Meeting
June Quarterly Meeting: Celebrating Clay County Scout Camps
Please join us at our next Quarterly Meeting on June 24, 2025, 5:30 PM at the Orange Park Branch Library, 2054 Plainfield Ave in Orange Park. Historical Society of Orange Park President, Cynthia Cheatwood, will present the history of our local Boy Socut camp, Camp Echockotee, and our local Girl Scout camp, Camp Chowenwaw, using vintage photos and personal narratives that span decades. These two camps hosted multiple generations of scouts and left them with lifelong memories. Start your summer with memories of camp.
Were you a scout? Please bring any special memories or scout souvenirs that you would like to share. Bring a friend. The program is free and open to the public.
Orange Park Memories
The Historical Society is highlighting Orange Park businesses each month of 2025, sharing stories each month that feature one very old and one more familiar business in the town. This month we feature Hotel Marion and Club Continental.
Hotel Marion was developed from the ruins of another hotel in the earliest days of the town. It had 65 rooms, a golf course, sulfur water baths and welcoming gingerbread trimmed verandas that wrapped two floors. It sat at the corner of Kingsley and River Road and provided entertainment and employment to most Orange Park residents at one time or another.
Club Continental, originally called Mira Rio, was built 1922-1923 as the private residence of Caleb and Elinor Johnson, relatives of Karrie Johnson Ferguson, owner of Winterbourne. Johnson had put over $2 million ($38 million in today's money) into the project. The property became Club Continental in the 1960s when Jon Massee, grandson of Caleb and Elinor Johnson, and his wife, Frica, converted the property to a more public space.
Clarke House Tours
Private Guided Tours of Historic Clarke House Available
Homeschool, civic and social groups are welcome to schedule a free guided tour of the 1913 historic Clarke House. For more information, contact the Historical Society of Orange Park at info@ophistory.org. Groups will be scheduled based on the availability of guides.
our corporate sponsors
Dairy Queen
610 Kingsley Avenue, Orange Park
McDonald's
428 Park Avenue
372 Blanding Blvd., Orange Park
Orange Park History Tours
Orange Park History Tours
